Play On: Storying a global conversation on urgent issues of community-engaged practice and research

This article documents the project Play On, a series of online curated conversations held between community arts practitioners and researchers based in Ireland and Australia. The Play On series featured contributions from community musicians and artists, researchers, activists and Elders. Together, we considered the challenges and opportunities we encountered in our work and discussed how we might respond to urgent issues impacting our field, our communities and our lives. The discussions from this project continued to impact us long after the series ended. They are presented here as four stories, representing the four curated conversations we had online during that time. Each one weaves together some of the multiple voices who contributed. We are of different nationalities but are based primarily in Ireland and Australia. Each story includes a series of questions or provocations for the reader to consider, discuss and debate in their own contexts. Our intention is to share our learning and stimulate further conversation about how we might approach the complexities and possibilities of our community music work.